FOOD SUSTAINABILITY INDEX

Case study

Dietary changes in the land of sauerkraut and sausages

German diets are changing. In 2016 more vegan products were launched in Germany than in any other country. Nonetheless, the typical diet for many Germans is still largely meat-based. Refined sugars and carbohydrates feature prominently, often at the expense of vegetables, fruit and dietary fibre. Saturated-fat consumption is high, increasing the risk of elevated cholesterol levels and associated cardiovascular problems.

Despite these nutritional weaknesses, Germany registers another strong performance in the 2017 edition of the Food Sustainability Index (FSI). The index, which ranks 34 countries according to their food system sustainability, has been developed by The Economist Intelligence Unit with the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation. The results for 2017 show Germany in third place overall (behind France and Japan) and up from fourth (among 25 countries) in the 2016 ranking.

Of the three pillars that make up the index, Germany performs most strongly in terms of food loss and waste; it is the second-highest ranked country globally for this criterion. It also ranks highly for sustainable agriculture, coming in at fifth. However, it secures only tenth place when assessed for nutritional challenges.

A global leader in reducing food loss and waste

Germany’s overall score for food loss and waste is just above that of Spain (which is in third place in the global ranking for this particular category). However, the gap between France (in first position) and Germany is much larger, reflecting differences in the quality of the policy response to food waste between the two countries.

Prompted by its influential green movement, Germany has historically been one of the global leaders in attempts to reduce all types of waste, with well-developed recycling schemes. But more recently, France has stolen a march on Germany (and most other countries), by enacting legislation specifically designed to combat food waste. Following the passage of a law in early 2016, France became the first country in the world to make it compulsory for supermarkets to distribute any excess food to food banks or charities rather than discarding it. French legislation—which is backed up by onerous fines in the case of infringements—also requires restaurants above a certain size to recycle left-over food.

Germany has so far shied away from introducing French-style legislation. Nonetheless, there have been a number of important initiatives in recent years. The “Beste-Reste-Box” (a more sophisticated version of a “doggy bag” that enjoys the blessing of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture) was launched in 2016 as a way of encouraging restaurants and caterers to recycle left-over food. In February 2017 the first supermarket in Germany (and only the third in the EU) to focus exclusively on the sale of salvaged food was opened in Cologne. Meanwhile, a debate is under way as to whether the best-before date on food products should be scrapped, particularly for non-perishable items—given that surveys have shown that is frequently a source of confusion for German consumers.

Germany’s high ranking for sustainable agriculture reflects a number of factors, including plentiful supplies of water, extensive use of organic farming methods and strong animal welfare regulation. That said, Germany is bottom of the ranking among the 34 countries when it comes to environmental biodiversity, with around three-quarters of local breeds classified as being at risk of extinction. Moreover, a relatively high proportion of its land area (around 17.8%) is devoted to crops used for animal feed and biofuels. This has stoked controversy. On one side of the argument, there are those who claim that it is wrong to use crops such as maize and wheat for biofuels production, as this takes food away from hungry people and also drives up global food prices. Supporters of biofuels in Germany have responded by pointing out that the substitution of biofuels for fossil fuels makes it much easier for Germany to deliver on its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The GHG savings from using ethanol (made from maize, wheat and sugar beet) instead of fossil fuels have been estimated to exceed 60%.

Nutrition: a weak spot

Nutrition is the weakest aspect of Germany’s overall performance in terms of food sustainability. At first sight, there appear to be few reasons for alarm. The prevalence of overweight children and adults in Germany is generally lower than in other European countries—including Portugal and France, the highest-ranked Western European countries for nutrition. Nevertheless, there is a significant gulf between Germany (where 57% of the adult population is overweight) and Japan (27%) and South Korea (30%), the top two countries in the global ranking for nutrition.

The typical dietary pattern in Germany also compares unfavourably with that in Japan and South Korea. Meat and saturated fat consumption is markedly higher than in the two Asian countries. Although it would be perhaps unfair to point the finger at the important German cultural institution of “Kaffee und Kuchen” (the tradition of having coffee and cake in the afternoon), it is also noteworthy that there is a higher proportion of sugar in German diets compared with those in Japan and South Korea.

That said, changes are under way that appear to signal a shift in German dietary patterns. One early indication of this was the opening in 2011 of Europe’s first vegan supermarket chain in the capital, Berlin. Verganz currently has a total of ten stores in Europe. In 2015 Berlin was also named the vegetarian capital of the world by Saveur, a food and wine magazine. This led Alexander Lobrano, a leading food writer, to declare: “Berlin is the first major Western city where vegetarianism has achieved complete culinary parity with the traditional carnivore’s diet.”

Meanwhile, according to Mintel, a global market research agency, Germany led the world in 2016 with the number of vegan product launches (accounting for 18% of the global total). In order to win over consumers used to a meat-based diet, many of the new vegetarian and vegan products mimic traditional German specialities, such as sausage and schnitzel. Research undertaken by Mintel also shows that around a third of Germans are actively reducing their consumption of red meat, while 19% are incorporating more vegetarian foods into their diet compared to a year ago.

These are encouraging trends. But they are no grounds for complacency. The majority of Germans still remain wedded to a diet high in fats and carbohydrates. And the country’s policy response is only mediocre (ranking joint 12th in the FSI), including indicators for the quality of the policy response to dietary pattern as well as nutrition education. The long-term health of the country’s population would undoubtedly benefit from more strenuous government efforts to remedy these shortcomings.